Hutchinson breaks Lea Valley record ahead of National 10

The favourite for victory in the National 10-Mile Time Trial Championship next Sunday, Michael Hutchinson (In Gear-Quickvit RT) continued his preparations with a superb course record-breaking performance in the Lea Valley CC 10 near Newmarket, Cambridgeshire, on Saturday.

Hutchinson, who already has eight National 10 titles to his name, clocked 18-10 for the E2/10 course on Saturday, taking the win by 39 seconds over Ciclos Uno youngster Joe Perrett, while Kevin Tye (Datateam Allstars) took third, another 31 seconds off the pace.

With conditions generally warmer across the country than in recent weeks, there were many good times recorded with only localised winds causing problems for time triallists.

Bath CC’s Rob Pears won the Chippenham and District Wheelers 10 at Ashton Keynes in Wiltshire, clocking 19-53 to win by almost a minute over Bristol South CC’s Paul Jones.

In Devon, Sean Childs (Royal Navy and Royal Marines CA) won the Plymouth Corinthian CC 10 at Buckfastleigh with a time of 20:28 to push Rob Scott (Bike Cellar) into second by 43 seconds.

And in Shropshire, Andy Bason (Team Pedal Revolution.co.uk) won the Ludlow CC 10 at Brimfield with 20-12, 1-05 ahead of his nearest rival.

Reigning Rudy Project TT Series champion Matt Bottrill warmed up for the National 10 with a winning performance in the South Pennine RC Bill Spencer Memorial 25 at Etwall in Derbyshire.

The Drag2Zero.com rider covered the distance in 48-30 to win by almost two minutes over Matt Sinclair (Lutterworth Cycle Centre).

And Hutchinson’s team-mate at In Gear-Quickvit, Pete Tadros clocked 20-28 to win by Old Portlians CC 10 at Horsham by 15 seconds from Jerone Walters (VC St Raphael).

Former National hill-climb champion Matt Clinton was victorious in the Cheltenham and county CC 23-mile event at Temple Guiting in Gloucestershire on Sunday. He covered the testing course in 56-38 to win by just over a minute from Ben Anstie (Cadence Cannondale).

And After finishing second to Hutchinson in Saturday’s Lea Valley CC 10, Joe Perrett (Ciclos Uno) went on to win the Maldon and District CC 25 at Purleigh in Essex.

His time of 54-21 was enough to take the win by almost three minutes, while Colin Ward (Essex Roads CC) was second with 57-10.